Doctor Who and Sherlock's Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss are going to drive a stake right through the heart of 100 years of Dracula mythology with their new series.
The frequent collaborators are partnering with the BBC (and Netflix for everyone outside the UK) to bring the bloodsucking count back to the small screen, this time played by The Girl in the Spider's Web star Claes Bang.
With rare exception, Dracula has been depicted as a menace who seduces his victims only to drain them of their blood for his own lust for eternal life. That's not quite how he'll be seen in Moffat and Gatiss's show.
Speaking to the Radio Times, the writers described how they were only able to convince the BBC and Netflix to make Dracula by pitching him as "the hero of his own story".
"There’s lots of things that are challenging about Dracula," Moffat acknowledged.
"Having an evil lead character is actually really difficult. That's been the main challenge I think. But how we’ve handled, that you’ll have to wait and see."
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His collaborator Gatiss chimed in: "It's been very exciting though. Because we sort of made a promise to ourselves and the people who are making it, paying for it, that we'd make Dracula the hero of his own story, and less of a shadowy presence."
Viewers will hopefully get a chance to see Dracula before long. Moffat and Gatiss also confirmed earlier this month that production on the series is expected to begin "very soon".
We'd suggest the all-star cast keep plenty of garlic on set…
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Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
